Season’s Greetings - Theatre Review

Alan Ayckbourn’s SEASON’S GREETINGS is set in the 1980s, when the play was first performed, and has a star-studded cast including Catherine Tate, at the National Theatre in South Bank, SE1

ALAN Ayckbourn’s Christmas farce, currently showing at the National, is not to be missed.

Set in 1980, when the play was first performed, it reveals to us the all too familiar strain of a family enduring the holiday celebrations with those they would otherwise avoid the rest of the year.

This is a clever and bleak play, wonderfully directed by Marianne Elliot (of Warhorse fame).

You probably already know most of the ensemble cast – Catherine Tate, Mark Gatiss, Katherine Parkinson, Neil Stuke to name a few – but it’s a pleasure to see them all on exquisite form with each character played straight, making them even funnier yet allowing for some deeply poignant moments.

Seeing a farce written, directed and performed with such brilliant timing is a rare treat, with Marc Wooten’s drunken slapstick routine a highlight.

Although this is a play about the middle-classes – it has a universal appeal.

* Continuing in repertoire at the National Theatre, Lyttelton Theatre, South Bank, SE1